Hit or miss—depending on your tastes

Rating: 5/10 (12 July 2013)

So. Pacific Rim.
In all honesty, how much you like the movie depends almost entirely on what you're expecting and what you like in movies.
If you're watching the movie for mecha vs. monster action, then you will not be disappointed. The kaiju designs are wonderful, and at times wonderfully creepy, and the special effects make everything shine. There are plenty of battles and action, and mecha fans will be amused by homages to various mechas in media, even if non-mecha fans find those homages over- the-top. The movie takes a fair amount of time for world-building, which will appease action- seekers who are new to mechas. The action sequences will definitely have everyone on the edges of their seats; it's hard to dislike the movie on the basis of its action.
However, it's very easy to dislike the movie in other ways. The characters are almost all painfully two-dimensional, and there's not much development to speak of. (Some characters are lucky enough to have some, but most go without, or with very weak development.) In fact, basically nothing here is character-driven. Characters interact, but you only glean the most basic of facts about them from their conversations. By the end of the movie, you know a bare handful of facts about each character, and with one or two exceptions, it's hard to see the characters as real, complex people. I don't remember most of the characters' names, and I'll only remember the characters themselves because of the actors playing them. The writing isn't much more impressive. Much of the dialogue is clunky and repetitive, and the movie itself is extremely predictable at times. (Arguably, the predictability is due to homages to mecha and kaiju films/series.) Also, there is an astounding lack of diversity in the cast. Of the named characters, only two are women, and of the named characters with substantial speaking parts, all are white except for Elba and Kikuchi, even though most of the movie is set in Hong Kong.
Personally, I prefer my movies to be character-driven, so I was unimpressed with this film— and thus the rating. But, as I said, whether you love or hate the movie has to do with your personal tastes. Are you a mecha fan who loves action scenes? Then you'll probably adore this movie. But if you, like me, prefer complex characters who interact with each other in ways that aren't driven by plot, you'll probably want to pass on this one.